246 ANECDOTES OF EATS. 



me that he had heard of a number not only taking 

 their own departure, but also carrying along with them 

 the body of a defunct companion, which they conveyed 

 over the ship's side, rolled up in a bit of canvas 

 purloined from the stores, and handing the corpse 

 from one to another with a care and regularity worthy 

 of creatures of a higher order. "Whether this partakes 

 somewhat of the nature of a sailor's yarn, or whether 

 it be a veritable relation of facts, I leave to others 

 more capable than myself to decide. But the following 

 I can vouch for. 



Between twenty and thirty years ago, the house 

 occupied by my friend, the laird, and which has now 

 made way for a commodious residence, was a row of 

 very old buildings ; and like many other old buildings, 

 these were infested with rats. As an evidence of this, 

 the laird's eldest son remembers that when a little 

 boy, in the midst of family prayers, he was alarmed by 

 a rat falling through the roof and alighting on the top 

 of his head. At one time some spoons and forks were 

 missed from the silver-closet. No one knew who was 

 suspected; but the closet was kept locked and carefully 

 watched. Notwithstanding all their vigilance, however, 

 spoon after spoon kept disappearing, and no clue to 

 the thief was to be discovered. 



At length the mystery was solved. One day a visitor, 

 being taken unwell, remained in the room while the 

 rest of the family had gone out ; when all in the house 

 was still, he heard a long continued rattling of silver in 

 the closet ; and on the return of the hostess informed 

 her of the fact. The closet was now opened ; when, 

 behold ! the soup ladle had been taken out of the tray, 

 the handle of it had disappeared through a hole in the 

 boards forming the back of the closet, but the rest was 



